"Only satellites can make the dream of anytime, anywhere Internet access reality," said Sam Farrar, satellite industry veteran and principal author of the report. "There are hundreds of millions of cars, trucks, freight containers, point of sale terminals, and sensors waiting to be connected to the World Wide Web. The biggest opportunity is exploiting satellites already launched by Iridium, Globalstar, and Orbcomm."

"This report explains why OmniTRACS has ten times as many subscribers as Iridium, and why an Internet-based satellite venture will acquire ten times as many again," said Ira Brodsky, President of Datacomm Research. "Satellites in Cyberspace also explains why, despite numerous setbacks, Iridium and Globalstar are likely to succeed."

Satellites in Cyberspace: Opportunities for Internet-based Satellite Ventures includes an Executive Summary presenting a series of "industry action items" and global forecasts. The section on Business Applications identifies the best markets and painstakingly examines the customer requirements.

The Technology section discusses the strengths and weaknesses of competing technologies in serving today's market. The Opportunities section provides fresh thinking, looking at everything from potential mergers to entirely new business models.

The Threats section weighs the industry's options in responding to unexpected developments. The report also profiles dozens of companies including American Mobile Satellite (AMSC), Angel Technologies, Cyberstar, DirectPC, Ellipso, Globalstar, ICO, Inmarsat, Iridium, Orbcomm, Qualcomm, Skybridge, Skystation, Spaceway, and Teledesic.

Farrar & Associates has more than twenty years of experience in business planning for the satellite communications industry. More information is available from the firm's Web site at farrar.homepage.com.

Datacomm Research Company is a leader in tracking, analyzing, and forecasting emerging telecommunication markets. Other Datacomm reports include Portals to Profit, Bandwidth Bonanza, and IP Insurgency.

Additional conclusions found in Satellites in Cyberspace: Opportunities for Internet-based Satellite Ventures:

1. The Internet's amazing growth has created tremendous demand for additional capacity. Less widely recognized, but just as significant, is the need for greater coverage. Businesses will increasingly depend on information chains spanning everywhere from mining operations to street vendors. Only satellites can instantly extend the Internet to all rural, remote, and developing locations.

2. Iridium's financial crisis creates an intriguing investment opportunity -- reminiscent of Nextel in late 1994. It is not surprising that Teledesic has expressed interest in Iridium. The key question: can Iridium be modified to deliver high-speed Internet access to fixed locations?

3. The satellite industry must shorten infrastructure development cycles and create more flexible business models. The computer and communications industries are changing in Internet time. The lesson of Iridium: markets do not wait for satellite networks to be designed, launched, and tested.

4. Geosynchronous satellites will succeed in broadcast markets; low earth orbit satellites will dominate interactive markets. Simple "bent pipe" designs are preferable to complex "intersatellite links." Coverage and data-handling capability will determine the winning access technology.

5. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the perfect complement to both terrestrial- and satellite-based mobile communications networks. The mobile satellite industry must make better use of GPS' asset management, navigation, and safety features.

6. Globalstar has several advantages over Iridium, but suffers from the same basic problem: a telco business model. Globalstar's success is assured, however, if it can convince Qualcomm to migrate the approx. 280,000 OmniTRACS subscribers to its network.